Everyone, meet Gustav. Gustav, everyone...

Who is everyone? No one reads this! But either way here he is. I found him at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I bought him along with 3 yards of cheep white muslin and piece of white foam board (to use as a reflector). After about an hour or more of being really pissed off I came up with some ok pictures. I was having trouble because it was pretty overcast outside and my built in flash was leaving a nasty shadow. I finally ended up shooting in manual.  There is a bit of editing on these, just the basics (contrast, brightness ext).

1/50
f/5.6
ISO 1600






This last one I came up with just messing around. Turned out kind of cool though. Not sure I could do it again though!




Pardon my mess but I just wanted to show the set up. I started directly in front of the window but found i got less of a shadow if I had the light come to the side with a reflector.

So ya know. I think they look not bad. I hoping to take Gustav with me around town for lots 'o fun pictures! Look for him in interesting places...

Ok, here it is...

my first picture I think is decent. Now I know that the thing on the floor is destracting, and the background is distracting, but thinking about exposure and DOF, not to bad right?!?

My best pictures as a "photographer"...

are only ok, but there are some I thought might be worth sharing. Some of these were just taken with my little 'ol Kodak point-and-shoot. Some are kind of cheating, taken at work with a fancy camera and fancy lights, but There's still some potential talent in there right? I'm just going to use the blogger upload. I think using something diffrent is better, but were going to go simple for now.

 I know this one is blurry, but I love the movement, crop and reflection.

 My husband and son at a baseball game. This one is cheating though. The blur was done on my computer.

 My son Shea, one of my favorites. Natural lighting for this one.

 I want to go back to the Magic House and try this one with the new camera!

Cool edit, no?

Shea's tiny little toes. A little to high contrast right?

 I couldn't tell you how in the world I did this. I don't know how or why the background ended up black, I was standing in front of a window. But it worked out!

Cool.

 WAAAAAA!!!

 Taken at work, not sure how I got such a shallow depth of field on that camera.

 Taken at work, but edited at home. Soft focus on purpose.

 My sister-in-law Katie. I just love the lighting in this one. 

 I really like this one. Again, taken at work but edited at home.

 Can I capture expression good or what.

 

This one is my favorite ever picture I've taken as a "photographer". I don't even like selective color normally, but it looks great here. Yeah.

So there they are folks. Not great but shows potential right. To be completely honest I'm avoiding the camera right now. I feel very overwhelmed. I have SO much to read and practice is hard with the crazy amount of snow still out side (and it cold, boo). I did take a pretty cool pic of the dog and Shea today that looks better on the camera again. I'm working on it...

It's here! It's here! It's here...

and I already feel like I'm going to cry. Set aside the fact that there are about a hundred million buttons and settings that I need to learn, but why do the pictures look better on the back of the camera than on my computer? There not great photos, I knew they wouldn't be. I'm just turning the thing on and pointing it at stuff. But I felt instantly happy with the results. It looked so much better than what my plain old point and shoot would have produced. But then when I uploaded them to my computer they looked, I don't know, plain.

Here is what was my favorite picture just looking on the back of the camera:

Right? Just normal. I understand that just using manual settings, and the pop up flash AND inside with bad lighting will not produce magic, but I swear it looked better!

Ug, I don't know. I guess I'll go back to reading. And reading and reading and reading...

Cameras, and lenses and accessories, oh my...

I wish I could have started this blog two weeks ago. The last two weeks have been a roller-coaster of not being able to sleep, bothering friends for advice and reinforcement of my decisions, and just in general me acting like a complete crazy. Over what? Over a camera. In the end I landed with the Nikon D90 and its kit lens, the Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 . I was going to add the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 but had to cut it last minute due to, well, money. So with all of the dozens of camera options and hundreds of lens options, how did I land on the D90?

Picking the D90 was actually the easy part. I did some early research on the whole Cannon vs. Nikon debate and I learned one very important thing, there is no right answer. Cannon vs. Nikon is like Cards vs. Cubs... no, that's a bad example because the Cardinals are so obviously better than the Cubs. Honestly though, it seams like people are either Nikon people or Cannon people. So I went with Nikon. And really for only one reason, I know Nikon people. I wanted to be able to talk and ask questions to my friends who were avid Nikon users. Then when it came to picking which camera to pick, I went with budget. I picked the best camera I could afford. I dabbled with the idea of the new D7000, but couldn't justify the extra cost when the D90 was and is still an awesome camera (or so I hear). I did read lots and lots of reviews to reinforce that I made the right decision.


The lens was a completely different story. There were several nights that I was up until 3, 4, 5 o'clock in the morning reading reviews looking for the perfect lens for both what I needed and could afford. At first I decided that I wanted a prime, or non-zoom lens. The quality is better and I wanted the good quality stuff. After a recommendation from a friend, I was either going to get the 28mm f/2.8 or on the other end the the 85mm f/1.8. After figuring out what all those numbers meant, I was set on the 85mm. the reviews were awesome. I love pictures with a really shallow depth of field, and that would give me the best look. For a long time that was the answer. But the more I read, the more I realized that I would have to stand in the kitchen to get a half body picture of the kids. While it would have looked great, not exactly a practical first time lens. What about that 28mm? Close ups would be to hard and it wouldn't give me as awesome of a blur. Then I stumbled along the little 50mm gem. It seemed to be perfect. low f #, great price and a focal length that was workable. But I kept wondering about a zoom lens. The flexibility it offered was enticing for a first timer like my self. But zoom lenses are more expensive and out of my price range, and I knew I didn't want the kit lens. Kit lenses are crap right? Well as it turns out, the lens that comes with the Nikon D90 is one of the better kit lenses out there. So after hours and hours and hours of reading and stressing I decided to go with the kit instead of just the body and get the 50mm f/1.8 on top of that, just so I could have a good prime too.

Well like I said the 50mm fell through. I had to cut something and I'm going to just get it for my birthday in April (or sooner, well see). So now I sit and wait. I ordered my camera and all the fixins (bag, books, filter, etc) a couple of days ago through Amazon. I should have it all by Thursday or Friday.

Did I make the right decisions? We will find out together I guess. I'm sure I'll cry when I just can't get it and think I'm awesome when I'm not. It should be an interesting journey...

Hello. My name is Irene...

and I am a "photographer". A girl I work with HATES it when I use the air quotes. I really feels like she thinks someone could hand her a dSLR camera and she could take some pictures and charge them for it. I on the other hand am not so naive.  I think that is where is a lot of my fear comes from. I have all these wonderful images in my mind and I'm scared that I will never be able to get the camera to see what I see.

Right now I work for a chain photography studio. I won't say which one. That could be dangerous to my general well being. It's one of those Sears, Penney's, Picture People type places. So day after day I take thousands and thousands of pictures of babies, kids, families, seniors... you name it, we shoot it. I do this on preset cameras, with preset light settings. Exciting, huh? And for a long time, this was enough. I loved my job. I loved making memories for people. And I'm damn good at what I do. But I want more. I spend hours looking at portfolios from photographers and long to do things like they do. I keep trying to do things more artistic, whatever that means, and it does not sell.

"Why isn't she looking at the camera?"
"What do you mean her head will be cut off?"
"Can you center that?"

You get the idea. Not to mention that because of the limited camera settings and the EXTREMELY limited time available with each family getting to do anything creative is few and far between. I'm stuck in this tight little place between annoyed and bored. So I'm planning my escape. I'm currently waiting on my very first dSLR camera to come in the mail. A Nikon D90. Why the D90 you ask. Well I'm saving that for the next blog, it was really a big deal.

How exactly do you plan to escape Irene? Well first I plan on learning to use my shinny new D90. That should take like a week right? Then I'm going to master exposure and lighting, lets say another month on that. I already know how to pose and crop so I should be able to quit and start charging high end clients by, lets say, April. That's how it works, right?

I do have a plan. What I don't have is a time line to go along with that plan. In the long run I want to focus on families and babies. Maybe have a studio (a far dream I know). I would love to do weddings some day. Having the money for something like that, and getting the experience will be hard. I'm going to start like every other "photographer" does. By asking my friends and family if I can take pictures of them. Practice, practice, practice. Trial and error.  It won't happen overnight or even overyear. Hell, it might not ever happen at all. But I can't just sit back and do nothing. I don't want to look back in 20 years and wonder what if...